


A Little Piece of Heaven

by Somebodys_Nightmare



Series: Through Cracks in the Starlit Sky [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Can i trade my husband in for a Cloud, Cloud is a Simp, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Falling In Love, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Heavy Petting, I'm not joking - Freeform, Light Petting, Making Out, Morning Cuddles, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Sharing a Bed, Shyness, Sleepy Cuddles, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Smut, Soft Cloti Hours Have Begun, Tifa is a Baby Doll, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, did someone say it was unhealthy to thirst after video game characters, oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:35:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28032501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somebodys_Nightmare/pseuds/Somebodys_Nightmare
Summary: When the Sector 5 Reactor Bombing gets pushed back, Cloud and Tifa find themselves with a little bit more time to get to know each other.  They both quickly realize that they can't ignore the magnetic pulse that lives between them.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Series: Through Cracks in the Starlit Sky [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053326
Comments: 32
Kudos: 116
Collections: Cloud and Tifa





	A Little Piece of Heaven

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JCMorrison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCMorrison/gifts).



> Hey there! 
> 
> This one shot is for #promiseweek! I couldn't really choose a theme from the prompts, so I tried to fulfill most of them in this story (The Promise, Tender Moments, Favorite Moments, Words Aren't the Only Way, Confessions, and Reunion). 
> 
> This is also part of a new fluffy, smutty series I am creating that will show off some remake/in-game Cloti moments over the course of their journey. XD 
> 
> Also -the amazing [Tifan](https://twitter.com/Tifan69) and I did a bit of collaborating on this. There is a piece of art buried within the text of this fic that if you click the link, you will find. Their renders are incredible, so if you aren't already following them, I suggest you get to stepping.
> 
> HUGE hugs to my beta and bestie, spaceodementia, for looking this over and helping me finalize it into something coherent! ILY!!!
> 
> ALSO. This fic is a gift to my dear friend JCMorrison, one of my favorite people and one of the absolute best in this fandom.
> 
> Despite the 20K word count, the plot here is limited. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Thank you all for your love and support! Please don't forget to follow me on twitter @nitezintodreamz!

A Little Piece of Heaven 

—————— 

“Well, this is disappointing.”

Cloud quirked an eyebrow up at Jessie when she fell into a seat across from him in the booth he sat at, deep in the back of Seventh Heaven’s dining room, sheltered from the bar’s lighting and covered by shadows that offered him some anonymity and kept most people from approaching him. Of course, Jessie wasn’t put off by such things, and she slid across from him and leaned forward without a care in the world.

Cloud was only sitting there, quietly nursing a whiskey in hand, because he was worried about Tifa and because he wanted to stay close to her. Barret had already informed him that AVALANCHE didn’t need him for the next mission, and he’d been dismissed in the same breath. Despite all of that, he was still replaying the events of the night before in his mind, when he’d returned from Topside with Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, Tifa soon coming to his room to say goodnight.

Thinking over the last two days - the reactor bombing and Tifa’s mounting, palpable anxiety as they drew closer to a second mission, Cloud felt compelled to find an opportunity to clear the air between them, to pull her in closer to him the way his body was demanding. He’d tried to let her know that he was there for her, that he still remembered their promise. It had been difficult for him to summon those words, but he’d done it. She had blushed and looked away shyly, not staying in his room long enough for him to make good on his words. Still, he’d put the offer on the table, feeling the panic that radiated off of her and wanting to do something about it. She kept pushing herself to keep going, refusing to take a break or just sit down and breathe. So the best thing that he could do for her was to just stay near and keep an eye on her until she was ready to talk.

In the past few days since Cloud had returned to Midgar, still hazy and unclear about the events that preceded his arrival, he’d found himself drifting impossibly closer to his childhood friend, to the girl who his memories of were vague but still deeply rooted inside of him, burrowed where he couldn’t reach them but where he could still feel them lingering. They were trapped, but they were there nonetheless, and he was spending more and more time trying to access them, to dig through the cobwebs and the dust and to search for the key to unlock all of the layers that were separating him from his own truths.

It had started that day in the rain, at the train station in Sector7. Cloud couldn’t remember how he’d gotten there - just that he had been stumbling with blood dripping into one eye, and that he had needed to sit down, his body was so stiff from pain, his head so clouded and dizzy. He remembered, obscurely, finding a bench inside of the station, facing the tracks, and he had dropped into it, holding his head in his hands while the rain chilled his skin and flattened his hair.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there when he heard a soft, feminine voice, gently and tentatively calling his name above him. As soon as he’d heard the sound, the faint prickles and stirrings had begun in his brain, and he realized that he hadn’t even remembered his own name until he’d heard her say it. But it wasn’t until he looked up at her, catching her dark scarlet eyes and the spill of black hair that bordered her entire frame, that some of his memories and self-awareness started to return.

She’d been standing there, holding an umbrella, peering down at him with a blend of curiosity and concern. His mouth had fallen open, and he realized that his throat was so, so dry, cracked and rusty from lack of use. He’d had to swallow and clear his throat over and over again until he could finally speak.

“Tifa?” he’d finally ventured, the dusty valleys of his hometown returning to him, bordered by its murderous gray peaks.

“Cloud,” she crouched down in front of him, and it had brought her just a little bit below eye level with him so that he could catch the glimmers inside of her eyes that were the color of the blood that still lined his forehead and leaked into his vision. She had reached out a gloved hand, running her exposed fingertips down his cheek, and Cloud couldn’t help but close his eyes when he felt the warmth seep into his skin from that point of contact.

“What happened to you?” she’d asked at once. “Are you hurt?”

That was all it had taken, Cloud realized. He followed Tifa back to her apartment in the Sector, where she talked gently to him about a time in his past that he couldn’t summon, reawakening parts of his psyche that had darkened into dormancy. She patched up his wounds and fed him and let him sleep until his head began to clear, let him use her shower and washed his clothes, and then had even gone through the hassle of finding him a room to stay in so that he would have his own little space, free of charge.

It had all happened so quickly, and Cloud hadn’t understood any of it, but he did know one thing. From that moment in the rain, he became tethered to Tifa, interlocked with her like the patterns of a chain-link fence.

She was the only person, the only memory that made any sense in his identity, the only part of himself that he could remember beyond his vague, discolored recollections of serving Shinra as a SOLDIER First Class before abruptly defecting from their ranks.

Even as he sat there in her bar now, his eyes would drift over to her from time to time, unable to stop himself from watching her. This connection was so intrinsically tied to his inner self and the stack of losses he knew were piled up inside of him that he couldn’t turn away, especially when the memories began to build. They returned the more that he spent time with her - vague recollections of those years in Nibelheim that were triggered by the glow of a lamp or the call of her name, the whir of a fan or the sparkle of starlight, the chill of a gust of wind or the brush of warm skin. And it was the memory of their promise that he’d had just the night before that had sent him into a tailspin, had him unable to tear her from his mind, and had him wondering what his feelings were truly about and why they felt so complicated and messy whenever he was near her.

Jessie cleared her throat loudly, and Cloud turned away from where he’d been watching Tifa from the shadows of his booth and leaned back in his seat, his cobalt eyes meeting Jessie’s honey brown, her smile wide and eager. He offered her a shrug, trying to shove Tifa and his disrupted memories to another part of his brain to be retrieved later.

“What’s disappointing?” he finally asked, even though he really wasn’t interested.

“The Sector5 reactor mission is being pushed back,” she told him. “Barret just announced it. Looks like someone in this sector leaked something to Shinra, because we got word that a trap was set. Barret is putting it off indefinitely.” 

Cloud scratched the back of his neck, then brought his drink back up for a sip. He really didn’t care, especially since Barret wasn’t planning to involve him in the mission anyway. And after he had seen Tifa tense up following their last prep meeting, he was indifferent to the entire situation.

He shrugged, looking down at his glass, wishing that Jessie would just leave him alone now that she’d said her piece.

The opposite was happening, though. She was leaning forward again, her eyes sparkling. Abruptly, she reached forward and snatched his whiskey away from him, bringing the tumbler up to her lips and indulging in a long sip.

She swallowed visibly, the look on her face mirthful and impish as her eyes met his again. They were sending flames at his, her hazel pools on fire as if gasoline had been ignited on their surface, and he turned away from the uncomfortable scorch.

“What are you doing?” he asked in pure annoyance.

Jessie licked her lips, trying to meet his eyes. “The good news is, we have the rest of the weekend to get trashed,” she told him, ignoring his question. “And whatever _other_ fun stuff we want to do, don’t you think?”

Cloud groaned, glancing at the door, already plotting an escape.

When he said nothing in response, she leaned back and laughed, then waved her hand in the air, catching Tifa’s attention, who was walking by with a tray in hand.

Cloud glanced up, his eyes falling on Tifa as she approached. From where he was sitting, his eyes fell immediately to her waist, to her flat, toned stomach exposed beneath the hem of her tank top. It sent a jolt through him, and he let his eyes drift upward, hovering over her breasts, round and firm and full against black and white fabric.

Blushing, he turned away, hoping the dimness of Seventh Heaven’s bar would shelter him from scrutiny.

“Tifa,” Jessie began. “Can I have whatever it is Lover Boy here is drinking?”

Tifa glanced at Cloud, but he felt his face burning again, and even though he could feel her eyes on him, he didn’t dare look up. Instead, he grabbed his tumbler from Jessie, disgusted that she had put her lips on it, then pushed it to the side in aggravation.

“How about you, Cloud?” Tifa asked him softly. “Can I get you another drink?”

It was as if she had been reading his mind, and Cloud wondered how she managed to always be so perceptive. He nodded, pushing his contaminated glass in her direction.

“Y-yeah. Thanks, Tifa.”

Tifa nodded, picking up his glass and disappearing again behind the bar.

Cloud couldn’t stop the way that he craned his neck and turned, watching her hips sway as she walked back to the bar, setting her tray on the counter and dropping the dirty glass into the sink. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her, watching her muscles pull and flex beneath her smooth, ivory skin as she worked. He was vaguely aware of the way that he stared, but he felt as if he were not in control of himself, as if he were watching himself unravel from afar just at the sight of her.

Jessie noticed this too, because to his great dismay, she was rising from her seat in the booth and coming around the table to slide in on his side, right beside him. He shirked away from her toward the wall like a cornered cat.

“What are you doing?” he asked her again.

“What’s with you and Tifa, hmm?” Jessie asked him straightforwardly, leaning over so that he was forced to stare into her eyes. He could smell the combination of her musky, floral body wash and the rust in her armor, and while not unpleasant, it was far too overpowering for his enhanced senses, especially at this close proximity. He tried to back up even further, his eyes darting back and forth in their sockets.

“What are you talking about?” he demanded, the irritation vicing around his throat.

Jessie only smirked at him, leaning forward again, determined to keep closing whatever distance he tried to create between them. “You’re always staring at her.”

“No, I’m not,” Cloud heard himself blurt, dismayed at how petulant and defiant his voice sounded. “There’s nothing ‘with us’. Get lost.”

Jessie laughed instead, her eyes lighting up and sparkling at him. “Sure,” she replied, her voice light and husky, floating on the air of her laughter. “Listen, Tifa’s a prude. You won’t get very far with her, anyway. Let’s not let these next few days go to waste, hm?”

Cloud felt his face and neck wash with a hot new blend of anger and embarrassment, anger at how flippantly she spoke about Tifa and embarrassment at her blatant flirtation. Half of him wanted to shove her out of the booth so that he could escape, but he kept his composure, swallowing back a nasty retort as he turned away from her.

Jessie was about to say something else when Tifa returned to the booth with the drinks that they’d asked her for. Cloud looked up as soon as he felt her approach; for whatever reason, his body always reacted when she was nearby, the mako in his blood fine-tuning his responsiveness and making him react automatically to her presence. He looked up to find her approaching, and when she noticed the way that Jessie had shifted to sit beside him, practically on top of him, she slowed a little, hesitant.

Cloud thought he saw something flash across her eyes, caught a faded pass of something that he couldn’t read or name cross over her face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come, and she approached the table, setting the two drinks in front of them.

“There you go,” she told them, her voice small. “I guess we should take advantage of the extra time off. Enjoy.”

“Tifa,” Jessie began, accepting the drink with a smile. “Why don’t you join us? I’m sure Baby Blues here would love the company of _two_ girls.”

Cloud groaned, really wanting to elbow Jessie out of the booth. But Tifa only smiled, shaking her head as she backed away.

“No, you guys go ahead,” she told them, and then, she was gone again.

“See?” Jessie said, lifting her glass and leaning in too close to him once more. “I told you, a total prude.”

Irritated and aggrieved, trying to watch Tifa as she walked away, Cloud picked up his tumbler and drank.

* * *

Tifa went back to the bar, wiping it down and finally pouring herself a drink for a change. She surveyed the room, watching as her friends and comrades drank and enjoyed themselves. Many of her regulars and some of the Neighborhood Watch crowded the bar, the jukebox loud as they drank and smoked and played darts. They were seated at tables and booths, along with Biggs and Wedge, Barret’s voice loud and booming as he cursed over his beer and threatened to blow to bits the motherfucker who ratted their plans out to Shinra if he ever caught them.

Tifa found herself inhaling deeply, the sequence of the last few days and the plans of the coming ones playing out in front of her in her mind. AVALANCHE’s anti-Shira activities had been escalating in scope and severity in the last several weeks; they were no longer content with spreading propaganda or organizing clandestine community meetings or fortifying the Sector against ubiquitous Shinra presence. Now, they had moved into full-blown revolutionary violence, Barret having already sat them all down to plan out a massive scheme to detonate and take down every Mako reactor in Midgar.

It filled her with a level of anxiety she wasn’t prepared to deal with, even though she realized she had signed up for this, had committed to it just a few years prior when she’d settled into Midgar and befriended Barret and became invested in the cause. Despite the bleakness of her memories before she’d come to Midgar, Tifa remembered the most important parts of those events five years ago - the devastation and the flames and the burning pain in her chest that bled vividly from the narrow edge of a longsword - and she knew that Shinra had been responsible, that it deserved everything that it had coming.

But ever since the news reports following the bombing of the first reactor - the one that Cloud had participated in, the one she’d sent him on in hopes of helping him to get into Barret’s good graces and to help him establish himself now that he was in Midgar - she was worried about the ripple effects of their actions. She had voiced as much during their last planning meeting, but her concerns had been dismissed. There had been casualties and destruction as a result of that first bombing, but everyone had blown it off, intending to proceed. 

Shinra was the real enemy, Barret had reminded her sternly, his eyes narrowed and his voice cross. There were bound to be misfortunate losses on either side of a war.

Her thoughts forced her to turn her attention back to Cloud, who’d been the only one who seemed attuned to how all of this uneased her, to the apprehension that lived inside of her, to the way that it made her hands tremble and her throat constrict. More than once he’d tried to talk her down the ledge, plenty of times he’d gently comforted her or told her to take it easy and inhale a deep breath. But nothing broke her down more than the night before, when she’d stopped by his room to say goodnight to him after he returned to the apartments late, and he flipped all of the feelings that were living inside of her upside down when he reminded her of their childhood promise and let her know that he was there for her if she needed him.

Their promise. Tifa remembered it and that night perhaps more vividly than she remembered anything else. The stars had been so bright in the black sky that it almost didn’t feel like nighttime, their illumination creating thick white and periwinkle bands of diamonds that bathed everything below in an ethereal glow. It had been silly, now that she thought back on it, that he might come and save her like a knight in shining white armor in a fairy tale. She certainly hadn’t meant it the way that he’d implied it last night, and as soon as the words left his lips, she felt her cheeks brighten and her heart begin to pound, her entire body blooming with heat.

She had to be honest with herself that her heart hadn’t beat with its normal rhythm ever since Cloud Strife had returned to her that night in the rain a little over a week ago. As soon as she had laid eyes on him, she’d known instantly who he was, the pale skin and the downy yellow hair, the boyish, handsome face that had sharpened with time as if whetted against a stone. Seeing him there, crouched over on the bench with his head in his hands and a blank look on his face, had not only sent her back in time but had kicked old, warm feelings up inside of her, her belly fluttering with butterflies and her palms suddenly hot and sweaty as she realized that she was face to face with a boy who she had liked and admired for a really, really long time, now seeing him for the first time as a man.

It didn’t help, though, that she also realized that there was something deeply wrong with him, that his gait on the bench that night had been off, that his blue eyes when he had opened them again had frightened her with their strange green glow. He’d blinked up at her in confusion, a foggy barrier separating them that he seemed to be struggling to climb his way through so that he could see her clearly. And when he finally remembered, when he’d finally found the strength to get to his feet and to nod his head in her direction before he followed her, she realized that his memories were scattered, that he had no place to live or stay, and there were as many gaps and errors in his recollections of the past as there were in the odd patterns of his speech as he tried to pull himself together. She’d had no choice but to bring him home with her, concerned that he was entrenched deep into mako addiction and on the verge of relapsing badly.

Despite the terror and the trepidation that this bellowed into her as she began to care for him in the small confines of her one-room apartment at Stargazer Heights, the threads of a buoyant teenage crush that had lingered in her for the past seven years were instantly revitalized with a new, different feeling, one that wasn’t so innocent, that had her staring at him more and more in ways that made her feel embarrassed and shameful. Cloud wasn’t himself, she knew, she could see it every time she looked in his eyes. But she couldn’t keep her gaze from lingering on the toned definition of his arms or from drifting along the lines of the front of his body and the way that his pectorals were cut and pressed against the knit fabric of his sweater. Far too often she found herself staring at him when they went out into town on hunts and jobs together, or when he sat in the back of the bar, waiting for her while she worked. And a few times he had caught her, the blue in his eyes lighting up and crashing into that glowing green rim, his pupils widening before she hastily looked away with her cheeks scalding.

She brought her glass of whiskey up for a sip, feeling its acidic burn travel her throat before it lit up her blood with heat. She instantly felt the melting sensation against her brain, and her eyes drifted to Cloud again, finding him still in the booth with Jessie.

At least, though, Jessie had moved back to sit across from him, instead of crowding him in the seat the way she had been when Tifa walked their drinks over. She had to admit the entire scene had left her with a vicious wash of envy, a voiceless wraith that made her heart hurt and left her tightening up with anger and disappointment. It was the exact reason that she had quickly returned to the bar to pour herself a drink to try and burn away all of the jealousy and discontent that instantly settled around her heart. Jessie had been so close to him, wedged beside him in that seat, and even though she knew that Cloud hated for people to be in his personal space, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Jessie’s wiles were affecting him. She had seen it written all over the pink highlights in his cheeks and the way he kept his eyes averted and downcast, especially when she approached. 

Jessie had a way with boys, Tifa knew. They all responded to her. She couldn’t count how many times Jessie had put poor Biggs through the wringer, but he always offered himself right up again for the torture.

She tried not to let her eyes linger on that corner, hating the way that it made her feel when she saw Cloud’s lips move and Jessie’s eyes light up and dance in response as she laughed. She tried to ignore it, turning away from the sight and instead focusing her attention on her drink. She realized that she had already drained it while she stumbled her way through her thoughts, and she quickly poured herself another.

She was halfway through her third when Cloud abruptly pushed himself up from the booth and crossed away from Jessie, his features twisted up in surly dourness. He passed by the bar and stopped; Tifa could hear Jessie’s bright, colorful laughter follow behind him. He paused in front of her, and his lips parted as if he were about to speak. Tifa stood up straight from where she had been leaning over the bar in front of her drink, her heart beginning to pound as she considered that maybe he was going to talk to her now, that maybe they could spend the rest of the evening together.

She really didn’t want to spend it with anyone else.

His eyes hung on hers for a moment, and then they wandered, tracing her face and dropping to her collarbone before he flushed, seemingly realizing what he was doing and instantly stopping himself. He closed his mouth and gave his head a little shake, before he turned away from her and walked right down the center aisle, out of Seventh Heaven, a warm gush of the slum’s stifling evening air rushing in behind him as the door slammed.

She blinked, watching the lines of the back of his body until he was gone, everything inside of her lit up and alive, aching for his companionship and longing for his touch.

Maybe she should follow him back to his room, she thought as the table that Barret sat at broke out into wild, boisterous laughter. Maybe they could finish the conversation that he’d initiated the night before, that she’d been too giddy and diffident to even admit was happening before she had run out of his room, claiming that she needed to get to sleep.

As that thought sat with her, she quickly drained her glass and reached for the bottle to pour her fourth.

“What a shame, Tifa,” Jessie was now standing in front of her on the other side of the bar, her glass empty as she slid it towards her. She leaned forward on her elbow, tipping her head to the side as she offered Tifa a knowing simper.

“What are you talking about?” Tifa asked.

“What are you talking about?” Jessie parroted back, mocking her. “Geez, you even _sound_ like him. What’s wrong with both of you?”

Tifa took another sip of her drink, the alcohol only helping her embarrassment to burn her flesh away. 

“I can’t believe you would miss out on an opportunity with a complete hottie like Cloud,” Jessie bubbled. “I thought it was because you were just too much of a prude, but now I can see that you’re really just that shy.”

The whiskey was befuddling Tifa’s brain at this point and loosening her lips. She waved her hand in Jessie’s direction.

“Whatever, Jessie. It’s not like that.”

“I saw you staring at him, Tifa. You’re _always_ staring at him. To be honest, I was going to just go for it with him, since I could tell you were never going to make a move. But he wants nothing to do with me. His eyes wouldn’t stop following you all over the bar tonight.”

Tifa felt her body flush and heat up, and she turned away from Jessie, not wanting her to see how bright her cheeks began to grow.

“It’s not like that,” Tifa repeated, and Jessie only laughed.

“Fine, then. I guess I’ll keep trying. Can’t hurt. He’ll give in eventually, especially since the poor kid is never going to get anything out of _you_.”

Stunned, Tifa watched with her mouth slightly open as Jessie laughed again and turned away, making her way across the room towards where Biggs sat, wrapping her arms around his neck as she reached for his beer and pulled a swig from it, joining in with the laughter and the merriment of the rest of their group.

She had to admit that Jessie’s words stung a little bit. Tifa knew that it was difficult for her to come to terms with her feelings. She had spent the last five years of her life learning how to bottle and suppress them, because they were often associated with so much pain, with memories that tore holes inside of her chest. Cloud was no different, and she hated how deep her feelings for him went, how much they connected her with a past life that had been burned to ash and went up in smoke. She hated how every time she looked at him, she felt like she was looking at the only piece of home that she had left in the world.

And she hated that every time he was close to her, every time their eyes met, and every time his leather-bound hands found a patch of her skin, her whole body would come alive with a spark, her heart would pound and she would suddenly feel an ache between her thighs that would last until she relieved it silently under the pressure of a cool shower late at night.

That was the _real_ reason she had run out of his room last night, she was scandalized to admit.

She was on her fifth drink now; the bar was loud with the raucous and joyous sounds of her friends, and Tifa was beginning to see blurs around the edges of her vision. Her head was swimming and her body was warm, and she was thinking about Cloud and where he had run off to, if she should follow him and if he would even want her to.

It was suddenly too stifling in Seventh Heaven, and she turned away from the bar, making her way past the kitchen and pushing herself through the back door, feeling the dank night breeze whip against her face as she turned to find the ladder to the roof.

* * *

Cloud sat on the front steps of Seventh Heaven for a little while, trying to catch his breath after Jessie had nearly sent him into a panic attack. His entire body was tense from her advances and her proximity, from her endless teasing and the way she leaned into him and tried to force him to make eye contact with her. It made his heart race and his palms sweat, and not in a way that was pleasant at all.

She had been right up his ass since he’d first met her; he didn’t like it then and damn sure didn’t like it now.

He had come out here to get some air, but he realized that was next to impossible in the slums. The atmosphere was stifling here. It was early December, winter only weeks away, but a thick wave of heat was trapped in the air beneath the plate, fogged by the stench of mako and greasy food and garbage. He didn’t understand why it was so fucking hot in the slums in December, when it had been cool and breezy Topside, and even his fucked-up memory knew that December was a time of year when the temperatures were supposed to drop, snow drifting from the heavens as they capped the crowns of rigid bleak mountain peaks in the distance, an image that was buried somewhere in the back of his brain.

And the slums were busy. Even though it was late at night, the streets were still alive, people traversing back and forth, some doing their drinking on porches or stoops or on top of crates in the middle of the road, and it was no less overwhelming than being inside with all of AVALANCHE and their friends.

Feeling trapped by the nerve-wracking onslaught of people no matter where he went, Cloud considered for a moment walking the few short blocks to Stargazer Heights and locking himself in his room, closing his eyes to the world and getting a few extra hours of sleep before he got up the next day and figured out what he was going to do with himself as he navigated another morning throughout the town. But he shook his head as he got to his feet, staring back at Seventh Heaven’s heavy wooden door.

Tifa was still inside, still working and hanging out with her friends, he surmised. She had been the only reason he’d come out here tonight in the first place. He had intended to stay so that they could walk back to the apartments together. It was a Thursday night and he knew that her business picked up and that she worked late on these nights, and he hated the idea that she would walk home alone when her shift was over.

So he started waiting for her, despite the way that Barret glared at him or Jessie hung all over him or Wedge just wouldn’t leave him the hell alone for more than five minutes.

After learning that the next reactor mission was to be postponed, Cloud noticed that the atmosphere at Seventh Heaven became much more relaxed. Despite the way that Jessie leaned into him desperately, Cloud had hoped he could get a moment to just spend with Tifa. She was the only person here that he cared enough about to spend any time with, but with how packed the bar was and how hard she had been working, he didn’t catch an opening.

It didn’t stop him from taking a step forward, though, back inside Seventh Heaven.

Eyes fell on him once again when he pushed through the door, Barret’s narrow and heavy on him when he entered. Cloud ignored him, ignored the way that Wedge’s mouth dropped open to say something to him, and he stepped forward to the center of the bar, looking around, but not seeing Tifa at the counter or anywhere else.

“Back so soon?” Jessie’s voice drifted toward him in a high-pitch trill from where she had risen from her seat at the table where Biggs and some of the others sat.

“Where’s Tifa?” Cloud instantly demanded.

Jessie just rolled her eyes, tossing her head to one side. “She went out back a little while ago.”

Cloud turned around before she could say another word, making his way through the rear hallway of Seventh Heaven and emerging onto the back walkway that faced the alley behind the bar.

He looked around. The back of the bar was fenced in with a narrow railing, and there was nowhere to go, other than to jump over it onto the piles of scrap that were littered in the alley below. He grimaced, wondering where Tifa could have gone, when he noticed a rickety ladder attached to the side of the building, off to the left. Frowning, he turned to it and made his way up.

When he reached the top, he realized that he was on the roof of the bar - the back of Seventh Heaven’s wooden sign was propped up by metal support beams, hovering over a flat rooftop that was constructed from a combination of aluminum and wood. The lights that twinkled from where they were knitted into the plates above left a cool luminesce over everything, and it was even brighter up here than it was on the ground, despite the late hour.

And just on the opposite side of the rooftop, her long, ebony hair blowing gently in the breeze, silver shimmers rippling over its silk, was Tifa. She was standing by the concrete ledge, overlooking the slum below.

He watched her for a moment, staring at the back of her body and feeling himself suddenly electrified with the same new feelings that had been descending and expanding inside of him over the course of the last week. It had started as a slow stirring in the pit of his belly, swelled up by the realization he’d been reunited with someone from his past who could help him make sense of the wide chasms that had opened up inside of his mind. But it quickly developed into a different feeling, one that was searing and confusing, that made his body react viscerally when he was around her, his heart rate rising and his bloodstream rushing in his ears. It was a reaction that was tied to the prettily painted lines of her face and the fullness of her lips, to the length of her legs and the winding curves of her body.

He always felt ashamed for looking at her this way, but especially so once more of his memories started to return, memories of her as a child and an innocent-faced young girl on the ledge of a water tower. He was embarrassed by these new, intimate emotions that coursed through him, prickling at something deep inside that made him _want_ her, that made him feel a little bit out of control of himself, even more so than he usually felt.

And it was for that exact reason that he found himself constantly seeking her out, drawn to her, the way that he was now as his boots quietly crossed the rooftop in her direction.

“Tifa?”

She turned at the sound of her name on his lips, and he saw her eyes widen when they fell on him, her irises a deep, cherry red, twinkling like jewels. Her cheeks were bright and flushed, her lips full and shimmering with wetness that he could see even from where he stood several feet away from her.

“Oh,” she breathed in response, bracing her hand against the ledge. “Cloud.”

The way that she canted his name - a heady, breathy whisper - was enough to have him crossing the rest of the roof in her direction, his feet moving on their own accord and without direction from the decision-making center of his brain. He came to a stop beside her by the ledge, stopping only a few inches away from her.

Cloud realized, catching the sugary scent of vanilla soap in her skin that was tinged by the sweet potency of whiskey, that he often found himself moving far closer to her than he allowed himself to be to anyone else. And he also realized that he far preferred her scent to Jessie’s.

“You okay?” he asked her. “I was looking for you.”

Tifa offered him a small smile, nodding her head at him before she turned away, looking back at the street. He caught the profile of her face, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from studying it, his fingers gently clenching by his palm at his right side at the sight of her dark lashes greeting the crests of her cheeks when she looked down.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I just needed to get some air.”

Cloud nodded, understanding the feeling. He leaned over the railing, watching the city-dwellers below as they made their way along the dirt paths. He saw the same group of boys that had been drinking in front of a house across the street now kicking their beer cans in the middle of the road, whooping and hollering with laughter.

“Did you have a good time tonight?” Tifa asked him after a moment passed, and Cloud realized she had moved closer to him, that her voice was slurring a little bit and that she was swaying slightly on her feet. He stepped closer to her until the gap between them ceased to exist, her sweet aroma intoxicating him, and he could feel the warmth that radiated from all of the planes of her exposed skin. Without thinking about it, he brought one gloved hand to her left forearm, sheathed in black compression sleeves, and steadied her, anchoring her so that she didn’t lose her balance.

“I really didn’t come here to have a good time,” he told her matter of factly. “I came here to wait for you to finish working. They don’t want me around, anyway.”

Her eyes softened at this, and Cloud caught the exact moment that it happened, and it muddled his insides so badly that he had to turn away from her. She leaned forward toward him a little bit, and he could detect the unsteadiness in her fulcrum.

“I think Jessie wants you around,” Tifa blurted, her tone slightly teasing, but once the words left her lips, she turned away with cheeks hot, as if she regretted what she’d said. Cloud felt his own face begin to heat up, and he hoped to Gaia that it was dark enough out here that she couldn’t see.

He tried to play it off with a toss of his shoulders. “I can’t stand her,” he admitted.

Tifa let out a giggle that erupted into a laugh, and she pitched forward a bit in her movements, her right hand coming up now to grip his forearm, right at the edge of the leather cuff of his glove. Now, they were both holding on to each other in these very simple, tentative ways, and Cloud could feel the pads of her fingertips burning into his skin.

“Really?” Tifa laughed, and Cloud thought that something in her tone was kind of sharp. “She’ll be so disappointed to hear that.”

Cloud shrugged again; he couldn’t give a fuck how Jessie felt about anything. And at the moment, he was more concerned about how Tifa felt, about the way she was still wavering where she stood.

“You sure you’re okay?” he’d never seen her so off balance; she was always more centered than any of them.

“I probably had a few too many,” she admitted quietly, digging her fingertips into leather and flesh as she tightened her grip on him, and Cloud felt the sear run all the way down to his bones.

Impulsively, he slid his left hand up her right arm until it came just below the crease of her elbow, above the hem of her compression sleeve. Unfortunately, he couldn’t feel her skin below his gloves, but she was so warm that he could detect the heat rising from inside of her body where he held her. With the slight shift in position, she was brought even closer to him, and he was able to steady her a little bit more. She seemed to realize their closeness, because suddenly she was blushing and chewing on her bottom lip as she looked down and away from him.

“You don’t really seem like the type to drink a lot,” he told her in response, his voice so low and soft he barely recognized it. 

“I’m not,” she agreed, and he realized she was staring at the center of his sweater, right above his chest. He wondered what she was looking at, or why her attention had drifted there, and even more, he wondered why it was making his pulse suddenly rage. “I guess I got carried away downstairs when my shift ended. I’ve… had a lot on my mind lately.”

Her words came out in a tumble, and then she was lifting her eyes and looking up at him, her lips parted. Cloud felt his heart start to pound, and instantly he was thinking about the stars and the water tower, about her distress the night before when she’d swallowed back huge gulps of water and told him she’d felt trapped.

“Tifa - “

“Remember what you told me last night?” she interrupted him. “If I needed to talk, you’d be there to listen?”

His heart was a full-blown chariot race in his chest now, and he couldn’t stop himself from looking down at her mouth, watching with fascination erupting behind his eyes as her small, pink tongue darted out to carefully wet her lips in a slow, swiping motion, and he felt something detonate in the back of his brain.

“Yeah, Tifa,” he breathed in response, his voice evaporating with the gentle breeze. “I’m here.”

“I need to do more than talk,” Tifa leaned into him as she spoke, her cheek greeting his chest and finding new warmth between them. She whispered her words like a confession, shy but somehow bold, her voice shaking but the resolve behind each syllable firm. She pulled her hands away from his arms and wrapped them around his waist, suddenly holding on to him tight.

Cloud felt time freeze around him, and he held both arms up at his sides, still in the position they had been in when they were interlocked with Tifa’s just moments ago. He wasn’t sure what was happening, what it meant, or how he should react. All he knew was that he was being flooded by a chain reaction of raw, abstract feelings and emotions and sensations that burned every nerve ending in his body, and he tried desperately to process them.

Tifa Lockhart, the only person who remained from his hometown, the girl that he vaguely remembered growing up alongside and being friends with, who had found him in Midgar when his memories were scattered and his body disheveled, was hugging him, her body so tight against his that he could feel the softness and warmth of her breasts against his body, could hear the steady but quick rhythm of her heartbeat. She was so close that he could feel her hair drape over his skin, lighting him up with a tickle that left him shivering. Unsure of what to do with his hands, he lowered them, letting them drop until they found her waist, and they fell there, holding her in a light, tentative grip.

“What do you need?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking, and he was once again taken aback by how low and dark his tone was. 

She looked up at him, her arms still folded around his waist, and Cloud felt her hands begin to drift over the expanse of his back. When their eyes met, he could see the glass sparkles in hers, and he realized as they held each other that her hands were slowly traveling up to his shoulders, sending ripples of strange sensations over every muscle there.

She started to back up a little, pulling him with her, until her back met the farthest wall, pressed against the bar’s rooftop signage. With the angle of the wood, the shadows grew and provided them with a small cover of darkness, and Cloud’s brain began to short circuit as he realized how intimately close they were to one another, how her lips began to part as her eyes held his.

“Will you kiss me?” she whispered.

Cloud was afraid he’d stopped breathing. He looked down at her, trying to steady his lungs, to not betray the way that his body was reacting. He was struggling to cope with the horror of the fact that he was straining painfully inside of his pants, and that the press of her body against his was not helping matters in the slightest. He was sweating, his throat had gone dry, and his hands were beginning to shake where they remained in a still but light hold on her waist.

Just under an hour ago, Jessie had tried to get almost as close to him as Tifa was now, and he was irritated and borderline repulsed. But Tifa was another matter altogether. It had been lingering inside of him for a week, an unspoken but clearly written truth - he _wanted_ to be close to her. And now that he finally was, he was finding it almost impossible to control himself.

He’d only had two drinks that night, but his inhibitions were admittedly lowered, though not as much as hers. It only took him a few moments of staring into her starry crimson eyes, but soon he was obliging her, leaning forward to press his lips gently to hers.

Cloud had never kissed anyone before, at least, not in the recollections of his ruptured psyche. But kissing Tifa felt natural, almost as if a guidebook on kissing her had suddenly unearthed itself in his mind, schooling him in all of the ways in which to please her with his mouth. He wasn’t sure how it happened or why. He just knew that her lips were so, so soft, their warmth seeping into him, the wetness at their seam scalding him, that he could only react in a purely physical manner, letting the overthinking machinations of his brain wander away and dissolve.

He didn’t dare move his hands or press his lips or tongue against hers too hard. There was something to be said about the way that the tentative heat was exchanged between them just with the press of their lips together, his tongue gently and carefully slipping into her mouth. She accepted him with a quiet moan, her lips parting a little to let him in, her tongue darting out to join his, encouraging it as they wrapped around one another.

Cloud heard himself release a guttural groan when he felt Tifa’s body begin to wind and twist beneath him, beginning a seductive, sensual dance that had his head spinning and his cock raging hard against her thigh. Her hands were traveling his back again, drifting over to his front, and he winced as she squeezed his upper body, gripping his muscles in her palms.

She pulled away just a little, and Cloud hadn’t realized how desperate and passionate their kisses had grown until he looked down at her mouth to find it swollen and wet. He blinked at the sudden sensation of her hip rolling toward him, and suddenly, his grip on her waist tightened.

“I really like kissing you,” Tifa purred in a tiny, soft voice, husky but warm and flooding him with shivers.

The forthrightness of that sudden statement struck him, and Cloud realized that Tifa might be a little more than just tipsy. It made him only want to hold her closer and tighter, knowing he would never let anything happen to hurt her, that he would never take things too far with her if she wasn’t ready and be the one to hurt her himself.

He parted his lips to respond, but his words were trapped in his throat. He wanted so badly to tell her that he liked kissing her, too. But she only smiled at his lack of verbalization, as if understanding the eternal predicament that he faced when trying to put words to his feelings. Instead, she dropped her left hand from where it had come to perch on his shoulder, lowering it until she found his, her fingers tracing his in a long trail before giving his hand a gentle nudge.

“Touch me,” she breathed, staring up into his eyes with a dizzying blend of longing and sincerity in hers.

She was still writhing gently up against him, and her right arm pulled him even closer to her so that he had her fully pinned against the wall. His breathing was now heavy and dark, and Cloud was suddenly terrified. He didn’t know where to start - staring down at her, there was so much beautiful territory to cover - and he didn’t know how to do this in a way that she would even like. 

“Please,” she begged him when he hesitated.

Cloud felt the heat nearly tear him asunder, but he lowered his head by the crook of her neck so that she wouldn’t see the way that he was suddenly blushing and red. Instead, he took the time to begin to explore her body carefully with his hands, trying to ignore the pain in his groin as he lifted his hands from her waist. 

He started with her shoulders, running his gloved hands over the smooth, pale skin there, down to her elbows. He suddenly wished that he could take off his gloves, but that was an impractical affair that would unfortunately not work in their present circumstance. He relied on the heat of her body that was transferred through the leather to translate the sensations for him.

Carefully, he let his hands come up again to her throat, finding a tender expanse of skin there as she angled her head to one side to give him better access. Finding his body spurred on by this little bit of responsiveness, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the inside of her neck, and Tifa moaned out her appreciation. Keeping his touch on her skin feather-light, he lowered his hands across her clavicles and the top of her chest, pressing his fingertips into her flesh as he sought out the warmth of her body.

“Lower,” Tifa demanded when he paused.

Cloud hesitated, realizing he was just above her breasts. He would be lying if he tried to say that he never stopped to admire those firm, soft peaks, that he never spent hours of his free time wondering what it might feel like to lay his head between them or to run his tongue over their nakedness. But now presented with the opportunity, he was anxious to proceed.

Tifa, still pressing her hips into his, seemed to detect his apprehension, and she assisted by lifting her hands to his to guide them carefully to both breasts. He fell into position, cupping the heavy, soft palmfuls, and she slid her hands away and let him continue on his own as he began to gently massage them in his palms, chancing to brush his thumbs across her nipples through the fabric of her top.

Her reactions were immediate and awakened a dormant, raging sense of bloodlust inside of Cloud that had his every action suddenly taken on with more urgency, especially as her breathing began to grow ragged and her breaths escaped in puffs, when her hands found purchase on his arm and around his neck to hold him close to her.

“Keep going,” she whispered, one hand tugging on his wrist to lower it.

Cloud’s brain fizzled and popped when he realized what she was asking for. He pulled his lips away from her neck to glance down, watching as her thighs began to spread beneath her skirt. She wrapped her hand around the back of his head, pulling him into her.

“Please,” she pleaded.

Cloud nodded, ducking to assault her neck again, finding that he loved kissing this part of her body almost as much as he loved kissing her mouth. Very carefully, he lowered his gloved hand between her legs, turning his palm and drifting upward, his knuckles brushing against the bare softness of her inner thighs.

He heard Tifa’s breath hitch as she trembled above him, and he’d only just begun to[ touch her in the vicinity of the most sensitive part of her body. ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/15T00BNN_uDt4P0SIKii5iMEwR5b41_3y/view?usp=sharing) Cloud vaguely remembered being a teenager and wondering what it would be like his first time with a girl like this, had remembered reading magazine articles and posts on the net that would describe the kinds of things they would like. He recalled distant, elusive memories of conversations with other boys who were more experienced and who shared everything they knew.

He could only guess, but with the way that Tifa was breathing and twisting, he figured he’d be able to navigate this if he just used her body and its reactions as his map.

He pressed his fingers upward until they met a warm barrier, the strip of soft fabric shielding her core. Instantly, Tifa let out another moan, and Cloud was cursing his gloves again, wanting to feel her soft heat, wanting to know if her panties were wet, wanting to know if he turned her on as much as she turned him on.

He was vaguely becoming aware that he could never get enough of these kinds of feelings with Tifa, whatever they were.

He began to lightly brush his fingers against her clothed heat, only imagining what that sight might look like if they both weren’t still fully dressed. He drew lines and trails, pressing down as he moved, trying to find the right spot to touch even in this darkness, rewarded by Tifa’s bright moans right in his ear when he did.

“Tifa!”

Cloud was sliding a leather-sheathed finger around the inner hem of her panties when he heard the gruff shout. Tifa’s head snapped back, and Cloud immediately pulled away, tugging at her skirt to right it back into place.

“Everybody’s left,” Barret shouted from the platform below. “I’m going to bed. Make sure you lock up.”

Tifa inhaled deeply, shaking her head as she tried to gather her composure. “Okay, Barret,” she called back. “I’m on my way out now.”

Cloud heard Barret stomp away and a door slam, and then Tifa turned to him, offering him a little nod. 

“We should get going,” she told him, swallowing to wet her throat. “Want to go back to my place?”

“Sure,” Cloud responded, far too eagerly.

Cloud followed her back downstairs, helping her to clear away the last few glasses that had been left on the tables in everyone’s wake while Tifa wiped the tables down. He tried not to think about her last words to him, tried not to ruminate on what could happen between them once they were alone in the confines of her four walls together. 

When they’d finished cleaning up, Tifa locked up and Cloud walked side by side with her back to Stargazer Heights. Her arm was looped through his, and she was leaning against him, her sugary scents blocking out all of the unpleasantness of the sector. They were quiet throughout their walk, Tifa yawning occasionally, giving Cloud plenty of time to turn over his current situation in his head, wondering how in the span of a week he had gone from struggling to remember Tifa, to being unable to stop thinking about her, to now having his mouth all over hers and his hands beginning to learn the intricacies of her body.

When they reached the second floor of their complex, Tifa stopped by her door and leaned against it. She looked up at Cloud mournfully, her eyes heavy-lidded and tired.

“Cloud,” she cooed his name in a way that sent thrills through his body. “I’m so, so, sleepy.”

Cloud felt his heart plummet, but he shoved it away, gently giving her arm a squeeze before he pulled his away from where it was still looped with hers. “It’s okay, Tifa. You need to get some rest. You had a really long day.”

She nodded, offering him a smile before she lifted up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek, warming him over again with her affection.

She turned away, and Cloud was about to head to his room when suddenly she was facing him again.

“Cloud?”

“Yeah, Tifa?”

“Um….” She was looking down at her boots, her cheeks beginning to light up again. “Would you stay with me anyway?”

Cloud swallowed, feeling his heart begin to stomp inside of his chest again. “What?” he responded, instantly feeling like an idiot for blurting that so stupidly.

She looked down, bringing her fist coyly up to her cheek. “I just meant... Would you just sleep next to me? And cuddle with me tonight?”

Cloud was surely overheating. He was beginning to wonder what kinds of games the gods were playing with his life. First Tifa had been kissing him on the roof, encouraging him to touch her, and now she was asking him to spend the night with her to _cuddle_.

How could she possibly be so sweet and adorable? And how could he ever be so lucky?

“Please?” she begged when he didn’t respond immediately, and Cloud instantly nodded.

“Yeah. Okay.”

He followed her inside, her room warm but in a comforting way, not like the clammy heat outside in the slum. She took a moment to take off her boots, then pointed at her bed. 

“Just get comfortable, however you sleep,” she told him, and he could see the drowsiness in her eyes, could hear the drunk sleepiness in the slow incantation of her voice. “I’m just going to put on my pajamas.”

She disappeared into the bathroom, and Cloud looked around her room. It was his second time being in here, and he couldn’t help but notice how much care Tifa had put into decorating her little bit of space and making it feel like home.

He slid out of his boots and left them against the wall, beside where he dispatched his sword. He then glanced at her bed, seeing how narrow it was, realizing how close to one another they would end up being if they laid down next to each other on that tiny mattress. He sighed before removing his pauldron and belts and harness, dropping everything on the floor at the foot of her bed before he stood there awkwardly waiting for her to emerge.

A few moments later, she returned, wearing her white tank top but now, with just a pair of black leggings. Everything hugged her body tightly, and Cloud couldn’t stop himself from once again admiring the curves of her body.

“I wanna lay by the wall,” she told him, her voice still slurring a little bit.

Cloud nodded, stepping out of the way, his heart pounding. He watched her as she crossed the room and climbed onto the bed, curling herself under the covers and making room for him to join her.

He hesitated, seeing the limited space, but Tifa was still staring at him, her red eyes glassy, her pupils wide as she waited.

“Come on, Cloud,” she beckoned to him. “I’m so tired.”

Not wanting to keep her waiting, Cloud slowly climbed into the bed next to her, trying his best to keep at least a tiny bit of respectable space between them. It was difficult, though, and he could instantly feel the heat of her body next to his.

She rolled in his direction, and she pulled on his arm a little.

“Cuddle with me?” she asked him again.

Cloud swallowed, leaning in and facing her. He couldn’t remember ever cuddling with a girl in his life, but there was something instinctual pulling him toward Tifa. He brought one arm around the back of her shoulders, then reached his other carefully over her belly so that he was holding her against him.

“Like this?” he asked her softly, always wanting to make sure that she was okay.

“This is perfect,” she murmured against his shoulder, leaning into him, closing her eyes.

She was so soft and she smelled so good, and lying there in the darkness, Cloud felt his mind settle, a new, calm feeling descending on him as he laid there with Tifa, the distant sounds of the sector beyond the only intrusion on their peace. Cloud had found sleep an arduous task ever since he’d come to Midgar; it was often difficult for him to fall asleep, and when he did, he was frequently plagued by nightmares.

But laying here next to Tifa, her breathing soft and her body warm, he felt like maybe he might be able to get a good night’s rest for once.

“Cloud?” she trilled up at him after a moment.

“Yeah, Tifa?”

“Since the reactor mission probably isn’t happening for a while now… do you… do you think we could go on our date?”

Cloud felt his entire body tense up, and he looked down to catch the slight glint in her eyes even in the dark.

“Date?” he repeated, and despite the way that she was lying beside him in the gentle circle of his arms, he couldn’t believe that she was asking him about a _date_.

She let out another tiny little giggle, still mystified by alcohol. “Yeah, remember? We were supposed to dress up and hit the town to celebrate our reunion.”

Cloud felt his lips turn up in a smirk, remembering when she had approached him in her room the other day. He had almost thought it too good to be true, and her laying there reinforcing it was only making the events of this night blow his mind further.

“Oh, yeah,” he responded. “Um, of course, Tifa.”

“You have to match me,” she reminded him. “No SOLDIER uniform.”

Cloud thought about that, closing his eyes as he nodded. “Yeah… okay.”

She wrapped her arm around his chest, giving him a little squeeze. “Goodnight, Cloud.”

“Goodnight, Tifa.”

* * *

Tifa woke early the next morning, staring up at the ceiling in her room, hearing the din of sounds from the Sector beyond slip inside of her tiny apartment. As she blinked and pulled the covers away from her face, she felt the slight sting of pain against her temples, a reminder of the mild abuse she had put her body through the night before.

Still, that pulse was dulled by the firm warmth that lay beside her, by the strong arms that were wrapped around her body, holding her tight. She blinked, turning and looking up to find Cloud still laying at her side, holding her gently. Her memories of the night before quickly returned, and Tifa felt the reemergence of the aches and the longing that had been spiking through her nerves ever since Cloud had joined her on the rooftop, a feeling she admitted had started falling over her ever since she’d started growing closer to him now that he was back with her after so many years.

He was breathing quietly beside her, and Tifa lowered her face to her pillow as she felt her body careen back into a heightened state of arousal as soon as she thought about how his hands had touched her so softly while they kissed, how his fingers grazed her skin before pressing into the dampness of her underwear, if only for a brief, fleeting moment. And now, he was lying next to her, having spent the night at her side, and just the thought of sleeping beside him and the feel of his arms around her had her aching all over again.

He was stirring at her side, and she then realized that he was looking down at her, his eyes half-lidded but the blue in them glowing and brighter than the green. “Hey, Tifa,” he greeted her.

“Good morning, Cloud,” she responded, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She felt her lips spread, offering him a wide smile, and she realized that her heart was beating faster, she was so happy to wake up at his side. “Did you sleep well?”

He offered her a little smirk. “Next to you, who wouldn’t?”

She blushed, gently punching his bicep with her fist.

“What are your plans for the day?” he asked her next.

Tifa sat up, stretching a little. “Well, once I get ready, I’ve got to open up and start serving breakfast. I have a handful of regulars who come in for my house omelets.”

“Oh, okay,” he commented, sitting up in the bed also, and for some reason, Tifa felt her cheeks warm up again.

“Were you thinking of coming by the bar?”

Cloud looked down, shaking his head a little. “No - I was going to go out into town and try to tackle a few more jobs. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come, but if you’re working…”

He scratched his head, looking away from her, and Tifa couldn’t stop the warmth that flooded in her neck as she looked down at her hands.

“Oh, I think you’ll be fine by yourself today!” she finally looked up, encouraging him. “Your rep is way up. I’m sure that you’ll find plenty of work.”

“Sure,” he agreed. “Thanks to you.”

Tifa lifted her gaze to meet his, and she found that he was smiling at her. It wasn’t one of his usual, cool smirks, the ones that she caught him tossing around whenever something managed to amuse him. Instead, it was warm and soft, almost endearing, like it had been carved and reserved especially for her. It turned her insides to goo, and she felt herself blush even further.

“Tifa?”

“Yes?”

“About our date,” he started, and now his cheeks were brightening, but he managed to hold her eyes, and Tifa felt like he was melting her into the floor. “Today’s Friday. I… was wondering if you wanted to go tonight?”

Tifa couldn’t stop the way that she started to grin. “Of course! What time do you want to go?”

Cloud rubbed the back of his neck, wearing a sheepish look on his face, as if he hadn’t been expecting her enthusiasm. He shrugged. 

“How’s seven?”

Tifa nodded, her mind already racing with thoughts about the outfit she would wear, where they would go that night, and if he might kiss her again.

“I can’t wait,” she practically exclaimed, her excitement bubbling to the surface. “It’ll be so nice to not have to worry about anything for a while.”

Cloud nodded in agreement, eventually climbing out of the bed and pulling back on his armor and his boots. Tifa stood by her bed, watching him strap his sword to his back again.

“I’ll see you tonight, Cloud,” she told him softly, and he simply nodded at her, the corner of his lips pulled up in another smile.

“Yeah, Tifa. Tonight.”

* * *

Tifa couldn’t stop thinking about Cloud for the rest of the day, and the distraction and anticipation was so bad that she found herself falling behind in her work, occasionally messing up a customer’s order or losing her place when she was looking over her ledgers. When the afternoon rush began to die down around four PM, Tifa found herself standing behind the counter, staring at the clock. Barret and the others should be back within the next hour, and she couldn’t stop thinking about going home and getting ready for her date with Cloud.

Her _date_. When she had first asked him, she hadn’t used that exact term, wanting it to feel more like a friendly outing and far too shy to imply that she wanted it to be something a little deeper than that. But in her mildly intoxicated state last night, she had let the word slip from her lips into the air, and now it had become truth.

The bar was quiet for a while - only Marlene was in the dining room, quietly coloring at one table. Barret was still out and so was the rest of AVALANCHE, and there were no patrons in sight. The after-work crowd would soon be drifting in, but for now, she had a brief reprieve, and she couldn’t stop her thoughts from wandering again to hazy blue eyes that softened whenever they looked at her, from messy flaxen hair and firm, well-cut biceps and shoulder muscles that twitched every time he reached for the hilt of his sword. Impulsively, Tifa reached for her PHS from one of the pouches in her skirt, brushing her fingers over the display as she thought about reaching out to him, unable to wait until that night for contact with him again.

Biting her bottom lip, she began to type.

**_Tifa:_ ** _Hey. How is your day going?_

She set the device on the counter, staring at it and wondering if she was being a pest, if he was going to be annoyed with her for bothering him while he was working. When the device remained silent for several long moments, Tifa turned away and shook her head, cursing herself for her impetuousness.

She went to check on the vodka stocks behind the counter when her PHS finally buzzed. She glanced down at the screen, her eyes widening slightly and her heart starting to thrum again.

**_Cloud:_ ** _Not bad. I just wrapped up for the day. I’m on my way back to the apartments. How was yours?_

Smiling, Tifa’s thumbs began a mad dance across her screen as the excitement of his response ran through her with a warm, fuzzy sensation.

**_Tifa:_ ** _Really good, just taking too long. I can’t wait for our date._

**_Cloud:_ ** _Me either. Where do you want to go?_

**_Tifa:_ ** _I was thinking of the AIR Music Gallery. It’s in Sector2. And then maybe we could get something to eat and drink?_

**_Cloud:_ ** _Sure. What color are you wearing?_

Tifa blinked at her device, blushing and somewhat taken aback by this. She had suggested that they match, but she hadn’t really thought he’d make that kind of effort.

**_Tifa:_ ** _Purple._

**_Cloud:_ ** _That’s a nice color._

**_Cloud:_ ** _It’ll look pretty on you._

Tifa almost gasped aloud at his last text. She stared at it, feeling a bizarre sense of elation and awe, and her fingers were trembling over her screen as she felt the familiar heat begin to surge through her body.

**_Tifa:_ ** _I can’t wait to see what you wear._

**_Cloud:_ ** _I’ll do my best._

**_Tifa:_ ** _Then it'll be good. Everything you do is good for me._

Tifa bit her bottom lip, feeling herself grow giddy from the sensation of flirting with Cloud through texts, while also feeling a sense of nervousness about her own boldness.

**_Cloud:_ ** _Really? Like what?_

**_Tifa:_ ** _Like last night._

**_Cloud:_ ** _Did you like that?_

**_Tifa:_ ** _Of course. I can’t stop thinking about it._

**_Cloud:_ ** _Me either._

**_Cloud:_ ** _Tonight?_

**_Tifa:_ ** _Yes. After our date._

**_Cloud:_ ** _Okay. Are you sure?_

**_Tifa:_ ** _I’ve been wet all day._

**_Cloud:_ ** _Wow, Tifa. I might not be able to wait until after our date._

**_Tifa:_ ** _Sorry, Loverboy. You’re going to have to be patient._

**_Cloud:_ ** _Ugh._

**_Cloud:_ ** _I’m gonna get you for that._

**_Tifa:_ ** _I can’t wait._

**_Cloud:_ ** _We’ll see._

Tifa dropped her phone, her face flaming hot and her pulse now centered between her thighs as she realized, dumbfounded, what had just happened. She covered her face with her hands and resisted the urge to scream, her mind draped with images of Cloud Strife, all lean muscles and blue-green eyes, standing close to her with his lips pressed to hers and his hands all over her body.

She almost wanted to skip the music gallery.

“Tifa, are you okay?” 

Tifa looked up to find Marlene standing in front of her, peering at her across the bar. She lowered her hands, willing her heart to stop its mad race.

“Yes, Marlene,” she finally answered. “I’m okay. I was just thinking about something.”

The little girl nodded, then turned and went back to her coloring book across the room.

Tifa sighed, breathing deeply as the evening’s first patrons began to saunter in. She wondered how she was going to make it through the next few hours without the anticipation tearing her apart.

As soon as Barret arrived that evening alongside Biggs and Wedge, Tifa shared her hasty goodbyes and fled, practically running across town to get ready for her first date with Cloud.

* * *

Cloud stared at his appearance in the small mirror in his room, not sure of what to make of it.

When Tifa told him she wanted him to match her and not wear his SOLDIER uniform for their date, he hadn’t thought much about it at the time, until he was alone in his room and replaying the events of the entire evening, beginning with when he'd found her on the roof. When he thought about her request, he realized that he didn’t own any other clothes. He’d only been in Midgar for a week, and he found it kind of pathetic and a really bad sign that he’d arrived here with literally nothing but the clothes on his back.

It was embarrassing, to say the least, but now that he had some gil in his pocket, he could afford to go shopping. So after he’d finished cleaning up monsters and completing a few other jobs in town that day, he’d stopped by a few of the street vendors in the market section of Sector7 and picked up a simple, dark purple button-down shirt, a pair of black pants and a few packs of clean underwear and socks. Now, he stared at his reflection, not recognizing himself in clothes that were better suited for a college-educated yuppie and not an ex-Shinra jarhead. 

An even bigger predicament was over what he was going to do with his sword without his uniform and harness. It probably didn’t make a whole lot of sense to bring a broadsword on a date, but he also felt naked and paranoid without it.

He pulled his fingers through his hair, arranging it around his face. He wondered if Tifa would like the way that he looked, if he’d picked out the right color shirt, and what she was going to show up wearing. He blushed at the thought, knowing that Tifa could wear a paper bag and she’d looked good enough to eat.

At that thought, he picked up his PHS - Tifa had made sure he’d acquired one shortly after he’d arrived in town - where he’d left it by the side of the sink as he got ready. He glanced at the display, opening his messages and scrolling through the ones he’d shared with her just a couple of hours ago. He couldn’t stop his heart from racing as he stared down at their exchange, in disbelief with how quickly their banter had escalated from friendly to flirtatious to suggestive. His own words stared back at him, glowing reminders of the deep, needy feelings he was carrying for her, and he couldn’t fathom the way that she made him so responsive, even through text messages.

Yet ever since the night before, Cloud was beginning to realize that he wanted Tifa badly, that he wanted her more than just as a friend. She was endlessly pretty and so perfectly made, her body curvy and thick in all the right places, her hair long and silky and dark, begging him to reach out and touch.

But more than all that, she was sweet. She was kind and she was smart, she was hardworking and compassionate and she had a light, airy laugh that made his insides liquefy. 

And when Cloud was around her, he felt calm, felt like himself, felt the specters in his brain dispel, dragging their rage away along with them. If he had his way, he would spend every waking moment with her.

His thoughts were threatening to drag on when there was a knock at his door, and Cloud stuffed his PHS into his pocket, opening it to find Tifa there, waiting for him.

She was dressed in a short, deep violet dress that was crafted from a flowing knit material and clung to every curve of her body. Its deep, plunging V neckline revealed a perfect hint of cleavage that was enough to make him salivate but not enough to be overbearing. The halter neckline was bordered in black lace and the dress was belted at the waist, only further highlighting the bends and curves of her hourglass figure. Her skirt stopped at mid-thigh, and Cloud couldn’t stop the line of his eyes from trailing her entire body, her legs endlessly long and pale and firmly sculpted until they culminated in a pair of strapped stilettos that matched her dress. She had a long piece of silky black fabric draped over her arm, along with a small black purse.

She stepped into his room without waiting for an invitation, bringing with her those same, sugary vanilla scents. She turned to face him, and Cloud realized that her eyes were lined with black around their corners, that her lips were painted with a shimmery pink gloss, and that her hair was slightly curled around the frame of her face. His heart was pounding, rising up to his throat and choking him, awash with heat at the discovery that she really had gone ahead and gotten fancy and dressed up. For _him_.

“So,” she began, settling her hands on her hips and posing a little in front of him. “What do you think?”

Cloud could have sworn he smelled smoke as his brain tried to compute. He was suddenly slack-jawed, his tongue heavy and thick in his mouth as he tried to maneuver his thoughts into words.

What did he think? He thought she was a goddamn goddess. He thought he wanted to flip her around and bury his face between her legs before he fucked her like crazy up against his wall.

“You look really pretty, Tifa,” he managed instead, suppressing those thoughts for now. “Just like I knew you would.”

She smiled, her cheeks matching her lip gloss, and she let her eyes scan over his body next, hovering over his torso for a moment too long. He leaned back, feeling a little smug at her appreciation before she met his eyes again.

“You look good too,” she told him, and the sweet, honeyed drip of her voice had him pulling at his collar. He wondered if she had any idea the way that she could unravel him just with the varying cadences of her voice.

They left Stargazer Heights not long after that, Tifa immediately taking Cloud’s hand in hers. The feel of her palm in his without both their gloves, without leather and steel and lycra separating them, made it difficult for Cloud to concentrate as they navigated the train system to Topside and then across the Sectors in the direction of Sector2. She stayed close to him, and Cloud felt himself suddenly grow defensively protective when the trains began to fill and he realized she was drawing the attention of other men and even some women, the same way that she did when they walked side by side in Sector7 together. It made him hot and angry then, and it vexed him now, and he didn’t even think about it when he dropped her hand and draped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close to him possessively.

A new bolt of electricity unspooled inside of him when he felt Tifa lean into him, relenting to his hold on her and encouraging him to deepen it.

When they reached Sector2 Topside, Cloud watched Tifa unfold the soft black strip of fabric she’d been carrying and wrap it around her shoulders. It was breezy and chilly above the plate, and Cloud thought this a small mercy, especially seeing the way that Tifa leaned into him, pressing her body against his as they walked the streets together. This time, he wrapped his arm around her waist.

They visited the AIR Gallery first. Tifa told him that she’d been here just once before, with Jessie - and he listened at her side as they walked through the halls of the record shop and admired the displays of instruments and artwork and awards. They passed a baby grand piano, and Tifa stopped in front of it, falling silent as she reached out and let her fingers drift across the keys.

As soon as he heard the notes play, Cloud was hit with a sudden, familiar pain in the side of his skull, and he brought a hand up to his temple as his vision whited out.

_._

_._

_._

_“Want to hear me play?”_

_“Sure,” he said, knowing he could never refuse her._

_She smiled at him, then turned away, settling herself on the bench in front of her piano. Her room was all pink and coral and patterned with flowers, and the sun was beginning to set outside, casting the room in an orange and magenta glow that matched her decor. It highlighted the rose-gold shimmers in her long, dark hair as he stared at her back, his fingers twitching at his sides as he sat back on the edge of the bed, wishing he could run them through that black silk._

_“This was one of the first songs I ever learned,” Tifa told him. “And one of my favorites.”_

_He closed his eyes, letting the notes fall over him as he listened, the melody fading into his skin and burying itself into his core memories for the rest of his life._

_Do, Re, Me, Ti, La. Do, Re, Me, So, Fa, Do Re Do._

_._

_._

_._

“Cloud?”

Cloud shook his head out abruptly, the image dispelling as soon as he felt Tifa’s warm palm wrap around his arm. She was bent down, looking at him with concern, her scarlet eyes wide. He straightened up slowly, dropping his head back to the side.

“Tifa,” was all he said in response.

“Are you okay?” she asked him, her voice thick with worry.

Cloud felt a new sense of panic assault him, and he wrapped his arm around her again, pulling her close to him. Despite the pain in the side of his skull, he felt better than okay. He’d just recalled another memory, one that had been cherished to him so long ago.

Tifa had played the piano for him. Not once, but many, many times.

It was one of his favorite memories.

“I’m fine,” he told her, turning her so that she could face him, and he now wrapped both arms around her. She melded into him at the sudden contact, and instantly, they had both forgotten that they were in public and that anyone else was around them.

“I was just remembering how you used to play the piano for me,” he whispered, his voice low and throaty. “Do you remember that?”

“Of course,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around his waist the same way she had done the night before.

Cloud was acting on impulse again, because in the next moment, he was dropping his lips and kissing her, and she was so pleasantly stunned by his behavior that she lost her balance and almost fell back onto the piano’s keyboard. But Cloud was catching her, his hand flat against the center of her back, holding her to him, her breasts soft against the front of his body.

He would never let her fall.

It took a while for them to finally break apart, and Cloud was aware of the stares that they’d drawn from other visitors, but he could hardly give a fuck. With the advent of that latest memory, stacking itself on top of the ones that had already begun to build, he realized that was losing himself in Tifa Lockhart, that he was not only falling hard now but that he had begun to fall a long, long time ago. Her lips were wet and red and bruised by the time they finally tore away from one another, Cloud’s entire body on fire when she licked hers before suggesting they just pick up barbecue at one of the nearby food trucks and head straight home back to Stargazer Heights.

He readily agreed.

* * *

Cloud tried to breathe as he watched Tifa unlock the door to her apartment, feeling his heart in the center of his throat. He could still taste her lip gloss from the kiss they’d shared at AIR, and after they’d separated, he found that he couldn’t back away from her, keeping his arm around her waist and holding her close to his body for the rest of the night. When they stopped to sample barbecue and visited a liquor store to brown paper bag a bottle of whiskey back to the apartments, he held her in front of his body protectively, his hands resting on her hips, his eyes shooting glares of death that pulsed with mako anytime that another man dared to look at her.

Tifa wasn’t his, but after the steady build of the events of the last few days, more and more it was beginning to feel like she _should_ be.

Once they were inside of her apartment, Tifa slid out of her heels and turned on the lamp in her room, washing everything in a warm orange glow. She set the bottle of whiskey on her desk, pulling out two plastic cups that she’d picked up before she twisted the bottle open and set to pouring them each a drink.

Cloud stood still by her door, watching her maneuver through the room, his eyes following the slender length of her arms as she hung up her purse and her shawl on the coat rack, the way that her dress shifted and clung to her waist and hips, the dance of the kerosene lighting against her hair. He licked his lips, wanting so badly to go to her, but finding himself frozen and waiting where he stood.

She turned, offering him a coy smile. “Take off your shoes,” she told him, “And come sit next to me on the bed.”

She slid onto the bed, waiting and watching for him to join her. He kicked off his boots, crossing the room on the bed beside her, and Tifa offered him one of the cups. He took it from her wordlessly, and she offered him a smile before she tapped hers against his and then took a sip. He returned her smile, watching as she sipped her own cup quietly before she glanced up at him again. 

“I had a lot of fun tonight,” she whispered, suddenly moving closer to him on the bed.

“Me too, Tifa,” he responded without even having to think about it. It was now abundantly clear to him that he really, really liked Tifa, and that it was far more than her physical beauty that enraptured him. There was something gravitational between them that pulled him toward her, that made him want to be near her all of the time. There was something in the sweetness of her voice whenever she spoke to him, in the way that she listened to him and how much affection she showed him in the smallest, most silent ways. And there was something about the way that she silenced the thunderclaps and the sirens in his mind, just from her proximity alone.

Last night, lying beside her in this same, tiny bed, Cloud had gotten better sleep than he had in as long as his memory could summon. If he was a lucky enough bastard, maybe he would get to sleep like that every night.

“What are you thinking about?” Tifa asked him, and he felt stirred by the light, melodic cadence of her voice, by the way that she suddenly leaned her shoulder against his. He turned to her, feeling his cheeks warm up, offering her a ghost of a smile as he lifted his arm to wrap around her and hold her close to him.

“I was thinking about how much I like spending time with you,” he breathed, and his voice was such a low rumble that it surprised even him. Tifa looked up at him, and Cloud found himself suddenly submerged in those deep rouge pools.

Without saying anything, Tifa drained her cup and then took his out of his hand, placing them both off to the desk by the side of her bed. He let his arms drop to his sides as he watched her crawl back over to him, where she stopped to crouch by his side.

“I really like spending time with you too, Cloud,” she whispered, and he watched her slowly crawl over him, straddling herself in his lap. His body’s reaction was instant; he raised his hips so that their centers were close and aligned, and his hands dropped to her waist.

He looked up to meet her eyes, and the smile she wore was bright, the happiest he’d seen her yet. And then she was leaning into him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she dropped her lips to his.

They were warm and wet, slightly parted but tentative and shy in their explorations. She was just barely inviting him in, scarcely letting her tongue dart out to greet his. He could taste her lip gloss again, a sweet, cherry flavor, and as soon as their tongues began to loop with one another, he began to slide his hands up and down her waist, feeling the silk of her dress beneath his gloveless fingers, the warmth of her body beneath echoing through the fabric.

She moaned into his mouth, and then she pulled her lips slowly away from his, sucking his bottom lip between her teeth as she dragged away. She lowered her eyes shyly, her hands sliding from his neck to his cheeks, brushing over the warmth there before she lowered them in a trail down his shoulders and arms, finding his hands just below her ribcage where she slowly threaded her fingers with his.

“Your hands,” she whispered against the tender flesh inside of his neck. “I like so many things about you, but I really like your hands. It’s nice to see them without gloves.”

“Really, Tifa?” he asked, curling his fingers inside of her palms, and her breath caught at the sensation. She nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck in response.

“Touch me with these hands, Cloud.”

His heart was pounding so hard inside of his chest it almost hurt, but he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. Especially not when now, they finally had a moment truly alone together, free from interruptions for the rest of the night.

Carefully, he pulled his hands away from hers, letting them resume their search up the along the steep bends of her waist, his fingers fanning out as he covered her ribs. Slowly, he brought his palms around to her front, his palms gently cupping her breasts, finding them soft and heavy. He gently brushed his thumbs over her nipples. She purred in response, pressing a kiss against his neck.

“Was that okay?” he asked her softly.

“Yes,” she replied, her words a hot whisper across his skin. “Keep going, please.”

He nodded wordlessly, concentrating on her nipples, his thumbs tracing circles over them through the thin fabric. She began to wind her hips over his lap, and the sensation made him wince slightly as his erection strained against his pants.

He’d realized earlier that she wasn’t wearing a bra under her dress, that her full breasts were just so firm and perky that they were perched nicely in front of her, held up by her halter top. He gave them each a squeeze, testing their heft in the center of his hands. They were heavy and pliant, yielding like dough against the press of his fingertips. Tifa relinquished a sigh and sat back in his lap so that he could get a better view.

He settled his back against the wall, watching as her graceful arms lifted and reached behind her neck. He followed her with eyes hooded as she untied the strap of her halter and let them drape and fall across her shoulders. She lowered her hands, letting them slide forward and slowly creep across the tops of his thighs.

Cloud shifted slightly under her, feeling the stiffness in his pants grow with the way her hands were hovering over him. With his palms still on her bosom, the fabric hadn’t fallen away yet, the straps hovering and drifting across his knuckles. Tifa arched her back, thrusting her breasts into his hands to encourage him, tipping her head back and exposing her throat, her hair cascading across his knees.

The lust was building to a fever pitch inside of him, and Cloud closed his eyes, inwardly commanding himself not to relent to his sudden, innate desire to rip her dress off of her in shreds and toss her into the center of the mattress before he ravished her with his mouth on every part of her. Instead, he took a deep breath and slowly lifted his fingers, letting their tips trace her skin before he pulled the material out of the way.

Cloud couldn’t recall how many times in the last stretch of days he had cast a sidelong glance at her chest as she moved alongside him, wondering what her tits looked like without those layers of fabric shielding them. But now presented with the opportunity, he was stunned by their beauty, by the pale pink of her nipples that were hard, by their perfect, sloped shape. But while his mind began to stagger at that first glance of them, his eyes fell to the valley between them, split apart by a long, pale scar that was smooth around the edges but wide enough to betray that the blade that had caused it had cut deep.

The sight of it instantly triggered a new, sharp pain in his skull, and Cloud’s vision grew black and green around the borders before he pitched his forehead against her sternum.

.

.

.

_“I'm sick of this. I'm sick of all of this!”_

_…I failed you…_

_._

_._

_._

“Cloud!”

Tifa’s hands were around both sides of his face, her fingers barely grazing his jaw as she pulled him back up to look at her. Her garnet-colored eyes, still darkened over with want, were now focused on his own, pleading and searching as they darted back and forth with concern. 

“Are you alright?”

He shook his head out, dispelling the violent, painful memory. So many of his memories of Tifa that had returned to him these last several days had been pleasant and sweet.

This one had been horrifying.

Unable to formulate a response, he brought one hand to hover over the scar, his fingers scarcely touching the smooth, whitened strip of flesh between her breasts as he traced it. His eyes still locked with hers, Tifa’s began to widen with understanding, and she looked away suddenly as if embarrassed, and it only made Cloud feel worse.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, finally pressing his palm to her flesh, feeling both their rushes of warmth collide together over that patch of skin, sending a balmy rain of heat over his brain.

She quickly looked up at him again, bringing her hand from his thigh to lock around his wrist. “No, don’t be sorry,” she insisted, and Cloud could see the fog of bewilderment in her eyes. “It was… it was just an accident. Don’t worry about it.”

He pouted at her. “But Tifa, I -“

She silenced him by leaning forward and kissing him again, curling her mouth against his hungrily and spreading her thighs further around his waist so that her warm center pressed against the ridge of his erection, distracting him from the sudden onslaught of misery. She didn’t stop her assault on his lips until she seemed sufficiently satisfied that he’d dropped the offending topic, and then she pulled back, her lips resplendently pink and drenched with his saliva again. Pressing her breasts forward again in an indication of her need, she tipped her chin to one side and bit her bottom lip knowingly at him. 

Unconsciously licking his lips, Cloud discarded the ugly memory to be examined at a later time, and he cupped both of her soft, heavy mounds in his hands again, the warmth of her skin fading into his palms as he gently massaged them, earning a low, throaty moan from her. He leaned back again and relaxed, letting the feel of her skin allay the anxiety that had crept back into his nerves and threatened to lay ruin to what was turning out to be the best moment of his life.

It was at that moment, as his brain pulsed with the murky blend of his ruptured memories, his fragmented and unreliable psyche, and his deep, underlying desires that were tied inextricably to her, Cloud realized that, without a doubt, she was the one and only thing that was keeping him from shattering into a million pieces. And he decided right then and there, that no matter what had happened in the past and how he had come to wake up in this Shiva-forsaken city with so many gaps in his historical record, that he was no longer going to hold himself back when it came to her.

Carefully, Cloud shifted and brought one arm around Tifa’s back, scooping her body up close to his as he lifted her and gently turned and placed her in the center of her bed, laying her down beside the wall so that there was just enough space for him to lie beside her. He tugged at the shimmery fabric of her dress, pulling it down to her waist and then her hips. She looked up at him with curiosity, the dim lighting in the room dancing across the vermillion in her irises as she lifted her bottom to help him slide it away. He pulled the fabric away from her legs, tossing it to the side, his eyes hovering over the lacy black panties that she wore beneath, the straps so thin they were mere lines of ink drawn across her hip bones. Her knees parted, and he felt his breath catch in his throat as he realized how damp the center of her underwear was.

He offered her a smile, one that even he knew was rare and that only she could seem to elicit out of him, and he settled on his elbow beside her, carefully dipping his head to capture one rosy nipple in his mouth. He let his left hand drift along her tummy, his fingertips drawing slow, lazy lines across the flesh as he traced her skin into obscure patterns. He sucked her nipple beneath his tongue indolently, learning the taste of her, feeling his body electrify when she began to sigh and moan beneath him.

He rolled the peak beneath his tongue, flicking it with a gentle tap and a press before he shifted to the other, now cupping his hand against the curve of her bottom as he angled her closer to him so that he could properly reach it. He soothed the sore peak with the same careful attentiveness, letting his teeth scrape across the ridgy skin until she mewled.

“Cloud,” she whimpered.

He glanced up at her, the sapphire in his eyes lit on fire. “You like this?”

She nodded, biting her bottom lip again in the way that made him want to tear into her viciously. “Yes, but… I need more.”

She rolled her hips as she said it, and he licked his lips again, glancing down between her legs, finding that black strip of fabric that was keeping her most intimate parts covered. He turned to her, then leaned up to capture her lips once more, finding her mouth just as eager and needy as his, her tongue instantly curling against his.

He broke away after a moment, locking his eyes with hers, their faces only inches apart. He lowered his hand to her belly again, lightly sliding it downward in a slow trail.

“Okay, Tifa,” he whispered, a promise threaded behind those two words.

He dropped his hand to her left thigh, letting it fall across the soft inner flesh that was just below the hem of her panties. He caressed the smooth warmth there a few times, his visual and mental focus on the responsiveness of her body while his insides continued to boil away into liquid and steam. He squeezed her inner thigh, varying the sensations he drew over her, and she purred and spread her legs even further, her hips still rolling in a siren call.

She closed her eyes, intent to focus on submerging in the slow drag of pleasure that he pulled out of her as his fingers danced across her skin. He watched her, his heartbeat racing as her lips parted and she expelled a heavy sigh through them, lolling her head to one side, her hair sliding in shimmery silken slats of onyx across her pillow.

He could feel her body begin to tense with anticipation and need, could see the muscles in her abdomen coil and flex as she waited for him to bring her a little closer. But Cloud now felt like he was finally in control, not only of this situation but of himself, and he wanted for them both to savor this moment. He didn’t ever want to rush things with Tifa. There was no hurry, and he wanted every moment, no matter how long and dragged out and slow, to last forever, to continue for an eternity.

It was then that he resolved that he wasn’t going to take things too far with her tonight. He made the decision as soon as she opened her eyes and looked up at him again, her pupils wide and the scarlet glassy and wet. Tifa was precious to him and to be cherished, and no matter where their relationship was suddenly headed, he was going to treat her right and take care of her the way that she deserved.

He pulled his eyes away from hers so that he could focus his attention on the smooth lines of her throat, gently pressing kisses there, passing over her skin with slow licks of his tongue. His fingers flirted between her thighs for a moment longer before he drifted them along the center of the silky lace, finding the fabric warm and sodden.

Tifa emitted a strangled, desperate sound, and Cloud closed his eyes as he continued to kiss the column of her throat, gently nipping her flesh between his teeth while he lost himself in the overpowering alchemy of her heady, sugary scent, the warm wetness between her thighs, and the bright, encouraging sounds she was making. Wanting to see her unravel completely, he applied a little more pressure beneath his fingers against her clothed core, slotting three fingers over her until his middle one was pressing into the center of her seam and the other two were bordering her mound on both sides. He squeezed her gently.

“Tell me how you want me to touch you, Tifa,” he whispered into her neck.

She breathed heavily, and Cloud felt her tremble beside him. Carefully, he looped the arm that he had been keeping himself propped up on behind her back, holding her close and cradling her to him, comforting her as he felt her unwind with yearning.

“Higher,” she responded breathily, “And get rid of the underwear.”

He chuckled at that, finding that he enjoyed it when she grew desperate, when he was able to tease her into this defenseless state that left her needy and forlorn. He only obliged with half of her directions, raising his fingers in a slow drag along her center, feeling the outline of her wet folds beneath the thin material. He stopped when the pad of his middle finger found a firm little button, and Tifa keened so brightly that it startled him. Cloud felt as if he had won the lottery.

He didn’t move for a long moment, keeping his finger pressed there, his heart collapsing while Tifa gathered her breath. She spread her thighs even further, the one closest to him bumping up against his stiff cock and causing him to wince at the combination of jolting pleasure and achy pain that radiated up to his skull. As soon as she felt it, Tifa shifted a little on the bed, looking over at him.

“You’re so hard,” she gushed. “Can I touch you, too?”

Cloud swallowed, terrified but wanting nothing more in the world. He nodded slowly, watching as Tifa slid her hand toward him, running it along the outline of his length through his pants, sending a surge of electrical currents along the lines of his spine.

In tandem, Cloud began to experiment with that tiny bud beneath lace, wanting to hear more of those bright sounds escape her throat before she caused him to fall apart under her own hand. He pressed down and began to apply pressure, rubbing and massaging her gently, drawing circles over the firm peak, and Tifa was reacting instantly, lifting her hips and whining.

“Oh, oh,” she cried, and she squeezed him in her palm, breaking his concentration as the pleasure built inside of him. “That’s so, so good. I want more.”

He didn’t listen. He kissed a trail along her collarbone, keeping the same pressure on her clit, the fabric between them delaying the bliss she was chasing just enough to make her body writhe and to force her to begin to beg unintelligibly under her breath. The sound drove him wild and spurred him on, and he began to tap lightly at the sensitive flesh, her crazed desperation leaving him moonstruck.

Her hand on his hardness became messy in its attempts to work him up, and he lifted his hips gently to encourage her. Tifa let out a whimper, and he pulled another out of her when he nipped the underside of her jaw. Her breathing was ragged and thin, her chest rising and falling, and Cloud dropped his eyes to see her nipples were even harder, the entire peaks blood rushed and pink. Finding them impossibly delectable, he dipped his head forward and captured one in his mouth again, sucking the nipple between his lips.

“Please,” she begged him again as soon as his mouth found her flesh.

Feeling thoroughly satisfied with how far and high he’d dragged her, Cloud carefully pulled his lips away from her breast so that he could refocus his attention between her thighs. Halting the movements of his hand, he carefully slid the strip of black lace out of the way to one side, his heart racing when he finally got his first glimpse of her naked intimacy.

Even from his angle, he could catch the slick pinkness of her flesh, soft and pillowy beneath a trimmed canopy of dark curls. The entirety of it was soaking wet, streams of her arousal leaking onto her thighs and the sheets below. He couldn’t help but stare, drinking it in with both wonder and complete, utter disbelief.

Taking advantage of his stupor, Tifa quietly reoriented herself and unbuckled his pants, pulling his zipper down so that she could free his erection from his underwear. Cloud flinched and closed both eyes at the feeling of her warm hand around his shaft, her skin equal parts naturally soft and battle-roughened. Exhaling carefully, Cloud took advantage of every ounce of mako in his blood to concentrate on her, carefully dropping his fingers to her wetness, this time no longer hidden from him by lace or cotton.

Her skin was so, so hot and so, so wet, the back of his brain sounded as if a firefight was suddenly erupting inside of it. He ran his fingers along her folds, feeling her slick, soft skin, careful with his pressure as he learned how much she could take. She was gripping him in her hand, pumping him slowly, and she was shivering where she lay in his arms, her eyes squeezed shut. Taking this as a good sign, Cloud steeled himself, pushing aside the throb between his own thighs as he began to explore hers.

He dipped his fingers a little lower, the pad of his index finger finding the tight, hot rim of her entrance. The realization of this set a bomb off in the center of his cerebral cortex, instantly leaving him stumbling through an inferno. He dipped his finger against it gently, just wanting to feel it, but not ready yet to breach it. As he swam in the wetness that she leaked there, she let out another heavy, deep sigh, leaning into him as if she couldn’t get close enough to him.

He tightened his hold around her shoulders, pulling her in close to him as he lifted his fingers again and began to pet her folds on either side of her split of flesh. She whined a little, signaling her need, her fist squeezing his cock impossibly tight. Swallowing heavily, Cloud decided that he’d teased her enough, and he raised his fingers higher, searching for that tiny spot that had sent her skyward when he pressed at it through her underwear just moments ago.

He found it, slick and hard, coated in her wetness, and as soon as his finger met its firmness, Tifa keened.

“Yes, Cloud,” she cried her approval.

He looked up at her as he positioned two fingers over that patch of flesh. “I got you, Tifa,” he promised her, and he brought his lips to hers, sealing their mouths together so that he could swallow all of her wails and sobs as he began to draw circles over her clit, rubbing its sides gently, flicking and patting, learning the shape and the feel of it so that he would never forget what drove her headfirst into ruinous ecstasy.

It was only a few moments later when the crescendo built and peaked, echoed by the trapped cries that tumbled from her lips into his mouth, and Tifa fragmented and came. Her entire body was locked up, tight with tension, and she pitched forward against him so that she could fully hide her face against his shoulder. Her hand was still around the base of his length, but she was no longer pumping it, only squeezing it tight as she rode out her climax.

Cloud tried to breathe as he waited for her, stilling his fingers against her flesh but keeping them there until he was sure that she’d fully descended. He couldn’t hear her breathing over the loud drumbeat of his own heart, but he could see the violent rise and fall of her chest, and Cloud was mesmerized by the multitude of explosive reactions he was able to draw out of her body from such a simple act of sensual affection.

Long moments passed, and Tifa finally collected herself, inhaling deeply as she looked up at him. Unable to stop himself, he offered her a smile, feeling a sense of pride at having been able to bring her to a breaking point of such pure, absolute pleasure. In recompense, Tifa finally focused on his own need, leaning up to kiss his jaw as she began to steadily stroke him beneath her fist, Cloud raising his hips and dropping his head back against the pillow as he finally relented.

Now that he was no longer holding himself back, it didn’t take long for her to bring him to an explosive zenith. The firmness of her grip and the variety of textures in the patterns of her palm were enough to scald him, and he moaned low and dark, finishing it with a growl as he finally lost control and spilled all over her hand.

Tifa sighed happily, leaning back, relaxing her grip but keeping her messy hand wrapped around him. Cloud felt the pleasure ebb and flow, submerging his brain and fraying every nerve ending until his entire body felt raw and exposed.

He concentrated on his breathing, trying to refocus his vision as his heart collapsed inside of his chest from beating too hard. Swallowing carefully, he closed his eyes and let the sensations of his first orgasm with Tifa fizzle away, sealed forever in his memory.

“I’ve never felt like that before,” Tifa admitted in a tiny voice beside him.

“Me either,” Cloud agreed, opening his eyes to find Tifa snuggling up beside him.

He expelled a sigh, glancing to the bedside table to find a box of tissues there. He reached for it, pulling a few out and carefully wiping Tifa’s hand and each of her fingers clean before he tossed them away to be dealt with later.

For now, though, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close to him as they settled together on top of her sheets.

“Get some sleep, Teef,” he whispered to her softly.

But when he looked down at her again, her breathing escaping in gentle puffs, he realized that she had already drifted away.

* * *

  
Things began to change after Tifa’s first date with Cloud.

_Possessive_ became his middle name. It was in a hot, thrilling way and not a scary one, a way that had her palms sweating and the now all too familiar ache blooming between her thighs taking up a permanent residency. He worked days in the slums, stacking away the gil he earned from the jobs that he took on, while he spent the evenings in Seventh Heaven, now claiming a seat on the barstool at the farthest end by the wall, where he would watch her quietly while he nursed the same beer for most of the night. Anytime a patron would raise their voice at her, hit on her, or get too close, Cloud would instantly intervene, telling them to back off or informing them that she was _taken_. Although they hadn’t put any labels on what they were, these little actions made it instantly clear to Tifa that Cloud was probably now her boyfriend, and nothing made her happier than knowing that fact, even if they hadn’t spoken the words out loud.

He’d become a lot more physical with her, too, and not just when they were alone in the confidentiality of her room. It was in the way that his hand constantly found the indent of her waist when they walked side by side in the slums together, in the way that he crowded close to her until their knees would touch when they took meals together, in the way that he would stand behind her and wrap his arms around her body and hold her tight whenever they would go up to Seventh Heaven’s roof to stare at the sad, twinkling lights embedded in the plate above, pretending they were stargazing.

Occasionally, when they had gil to spare, they would go for dates Topside, and Cloud would keep her close to the inside of his body when they rode the trains, would hold her hand or wrap his arm around her when they walked through the streets. And there, they really could stargaze, even though the artificial mako lighting blunted the glow of the celestial beacons in the sky. No matter what, though, Cloud’s hands were always somewhere on her body, silently letting her and everyone else know who she belonged to. 

It was a feeling that she loved more than any she had experienced in recent memory.

And when they _were_ alone - Cloud was frequently spending the night in her room now, sleeping beside her - his hands were always all over her, his arms holding her tight, his lips and tongue melded with hers and his fingers stroking her through multiple successions of bliss while she pawed her way at him endlessly to return the favor. And he never took her too far, somehow knowing without words how much of herself she was willing to give to him. And so they hovered in a happy routine of necking and foreplay, enjoying each other’s company and companionship as much as they enjoyed one another’s kisses and touches.

Almost two full weeks had passed without any talk about Shinra or reactors or revolution, and Tifa naively began to assume that life might be resuming some normalcy. But it soon came to an end when Barret stormed into Seventh Heaven and threw out all of her regulars, announcing to AVALANCHE that their plans for Mako Reactor 5 were back on for the following night.

The good news was, though, that in the two weeks that passed, with all of Cloud’s mercenary work in the Sector and his assistance with the Neighborhood Watch, Barret’s opinion of him had improved enough to let him rejoin the next mission, and knowing that Cloud would be at her side helped tamp down a little bit of her anxiety.

“Enjoy tonight while you can,” Barret thundered to the group when Tifa came around and handed him a beer. “Cause once we get on this train, ain’t gonna be any gettin’ off.”

Tifa returned to the bar, only to find Jessie was seated on the stool next to Cloud, leaning uncomfortably in his personal space again.

“Go play in traffic,” was all Tifa heard him say as she crossed in their direction, passing behind the counter and setting her tray down as she tried to suppress the wild grin on her face that his remark solicited.

“Aww, what’s a matter?” Jessie teased, clearly unfazed by his annoyance. “You seem like you’re in a bad mood. Tifa not helping you unwind all of that tension, SOLIDER-boy?”

Cloud snarled at her and turned away, picking his glass up in his gloved palm with the clear intent to ignore her.

But Tifa smirked, turning her jealousy and her frustration into determination. She wiped her hands off on her apron, then leaned forward over the bar in front of Cloud, offering him a generous view of her breasts as she tipped her head toward her AVALANCHE comrade.

“Jessie,” she began in a sweet, sing-song voice. “Please leave my boyfriend alone. He’s already told you he’s not interested. He’s taken. Understood?”

With that, Tifa wrapped her palms around Cloud’s forearms, above his bracers and gauntlets, pulling him in close to her over the counter until their eyes met, his deep royal blue sparkling and pulsing with mako as they bored into hers.

“Right?” she whispered to him, her voice barely audible, before she dropped her lips to his, catching him in a sweet, chaste kiss with their arms interlocked over the counter.

Her tongue prodding at the seam of his lips, Tifa heard Jessie scoff and then laugh beside them. 

“Loud and clear,” she conceded, pushing away from the stool. “Biggs it is again, then.”

Tifa ignored her, letting her kiss with Cloud linger for moments before they finally broke apart to breathe again. His eyes opened, holding hers once again, and she looked down to catch the shining wetness of his lips under the bar’s dim lighting.

“Boyfriend?” he repeated playfully, his lips teasing her with a smirk.

“Sure,” Tifa answered, her heart rate rising impossibly further. “If you want to be.”

His smirk transformed into a smile, the same soft, gentle one that he only gave her when they were alone, the one she knew he saved for her, the one that reminded her of her childhood and that always made her melt inside.

He leaned forward, lips parting as if he were ready to kiss her again.

“I already am.” 

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! follow me on twitter at @nitzeintodreamz


End file.
